He is a professor in the Department of San Francisco State University and a member of the Aesor Council of the Documentary Film Institute, best known for his pioneering work as the founder of contemporary documentary film studies. His book The Representation of Reality: Questions and Concepts on the Documentary (1991) first applied modern conematographic theory to the study of the documentary and was sequel to dozens of books by other authors, and other books and essays by Nichols himself. Professor Nichols has lectured in numerous countries, served as a jury member at film festivals around the world, regularly advised a variety of film projects, and published over a hundred articles.